Texas Democrats join Ron Paul in support marijuana decriminalization

Ron Paul is not alone in his support for decriminalizing marijuana. Texas Democrats have joined the Lake Jackson Republican — and an ever-growing list of state political parties — who endorse decriminalization of pot.

More than 50 percent of Americans are in favor of the decriminalization of marijuana, according to recent polls.

Texas Democrats say they’re motivated by a desire to prevent drug-related crime. Legalization or decriminalization, they say, will remove the power of selling marijuana from street gangs and drug cartels, which will reduce crime.

Texas Democrats want to decriminalize marijuana.

The desire to decriminalize marijuana does not mean the party supports the use of the drug, according to the Texas Democrats’ 2012 platform, which also explains that they especially encourage the decriminalization of medical marijuana.

Thousands of Americans get arrested every year for legal violations involving the possession of marijuana, which outnumbers the amount of people arrested for violent crimes in America, according to the Texas Democratic platform.

Democrats in Texas believe that money spent on the war on drugs—$12 billion annually—could have more of an impact used elsewhere.

Texas Democrats are encouraging President Obama, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Congress to support the decriminalization of marijuana possession and to regulate its production, use and sale in the same way as tobacco and alcohol.

The drug is not any more dangerous than tobacco or alcohol, according to the Texas Democratic platform, which states that the theory of marijuana as a “gateway” to the use of other, harder drugs is not backed by evidence.

They say that the majority of people who get caught using marijuana are under 30 years old, and that a criminal conviction will stay with those young people forever. Smoking marijuana, they say, is not a serious enough offense to be worth that sort of permanent mark.